


body/speech

by spitecentral



Series: April Autism Acceptance Fics [3]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: ...ish?, Autism Acceptance Month 2018, Autistic Cassandra Cain, Autistic Damian Wayne, Gen, Healthy Communication in the Batfam, Hurt/Comfort, Written by an Autistic Author, aka people talking about their issues for once, yes i know it's a miracle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 23:46:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14200266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spitecentral/pseuds/spitecentral
Summary: Cass and Damian have different ways of communicating, but neither language helps them understand other people.





	body/speech

**Author's Note:**

> YOOOOO GUESS WHO WROTE A FULL, ACTUAL ONE SHOT FOR THIS DRABBLE SERIES???
> 
> Okay but seriously, this is my first time writing Cassandra, and I'm not sure how well I did? It's different from her comic voice, that's for sure, but I do think the staccato writing style I used paints her rather well. I dunno. As always, constructive criticism is welcome!
> 
> (also since this is the batfam actually talking about their issues for once there's a 90% chance that at least one of them is slightly out of character, but considering the shit DC pulls every other week, I think I have some leeway)
> 
> (ALSO Cass is Batgirl bc I hated the way the mantle was handed over to Steph in canon and, while Steph has a superhero identity that's unique to her outside of Batgirl, Cass only has the very bland Black Bat and Orphan, neither of which I feel actually reflect her well, so. Sorry Steph.)
> 
> EDIT january 3 2019: Edited some of Cass's dialogue because after re-reading it some of it might've been a little too close to broken English, which wasn't how I intended to write it.

Shoulders squared, back straight, jaw tight, eyes wrinkled at the edges. Bruce is angry. No, not angry. Disappointed. Frustrated. But not angry, yet.

Damian has his legs spread, his arms locked, his fists balled, his lip curled up. But he's leaning backwards, away from Bruce. He is scared, using angry body language to mask it. Typical Damian.

Before Bruce can say anything, Cassandra puts her hand on his shoulder. "Let me."

Bruce glances at her. "He's my son."

"Let me."

"Will you tell me what this is about?"

"Maybe."

Bruce holds her gaze, and she holds herself still. He sighs.

"Alright. But please tell me, if you can."

Bruce turns away and walks out of the door. Cassandra lets out a sigh of relief and turns to Damian. 

He's still defensive, still acts like a scared kitten, and seems even more afraid now. Cass tries to smile comfortingly. It doesn't work, and Damian gets even more defensive. She isn't sure if it's her fault or not, but she stops.

"You don't understand people."

She says it like a statement, because it is. Damian doesn't get people. He doesn't get why the women were shocked when he called their dress ugly. He doesn't get why he shouldn't have told one of them he saw her husband cheating on her. He doesn't get why she started crying and screaming about it. He just doesn't get it. Cass understands.

Damian bristles. 

"This is coming from you, Cain? You barely even understand the spoken word, and can't use the written one at all; I fail to see how you, of all people, should be lecturing me about my understanding of humans." 

He is trying to hurt. He sneers his words, he uses her old surname, and he is insulting her. She lets it sting, and then moves on. His eyes shift away from her face as he talks, and his feet shuffle the slightest bit. He doesn't mean it.

"True. But I understand bodies. You don't."

His eyes flame up and he looks ready to lash out again. That was not what she meant.

"Sorry, that was... wrong. Those were the wrong words. I didn't mean it as something... bad. It just is. I understand bodies, you understand speech."

Damian watches her suspiciously and doesn't ease up, but his fists are flat hands now. Good.

"I understand bodies. I can read them. I don't always understand what people say, but I get what they _mean_. It causes... problems, sometimes. When people contradict their words. When people just lie. Then I out them, and they get mad."

Damian is silent and still squints his eyes, but the tension in his legs and arms is draining. "It isn't the same."

"It's not," Cass agrees. "You only understand their words. You're not good at reading their body, and you know that speech isn't trustworthy. But you don't know what else to do, so you answer honestly. And that makes them mad."

His arms are still crossed, but he's hunched over now, not standing tall and proud, but trying to become smaller. Cass doesn't think he realizes he's doing it.

"But I don't understand people either."

Damian's head shoots up. "But you just said-"

"I can read them, or their bodies. I get what they mean, and I see what they're feeling. But I don't really understand _why_. I just know they do."

She searches for the right words to continue, to explain how, even after she was taught to think in words, she felt like an outsider among other people. In the end, she gives up, and goes to an example instead.

"People are scared of me. I understand that when they're criminals. They should be scared of me. But witnesses are also scared of me, even after they know who I am. I don't get that. I'm Batgirl. Even if my costume is scary, people should know that I won't hurt them. But even after they're calm, they still tremble a bit."

Tension drains completely from Damian's body, and he sits down on the floor, leaning against Bruce's desk, staring at the ceiling. "It wasn't my intention to anger Miss Fairenbough. I just thought that she'd like to know her husband was cheating on her. That way, she could divorce him, and either get herself a better husband, or become happier alone. I don't understand why she was so furious about it."

Cass sits down next to Damian and leans her chin on her knees. "She was sad. And she was angry at you for telling her."

"But why?" Damian looks up at her, puzzled. "Why would she be angry at me, and not him?"

Cass shrugs. "I don't know."

They are silent for a while, listening to the ticking of the clock. 

Suddenly, Damian slams his hands on the ground. "Alright," he announces, chin proudly in the air. "We shall make this a project."

Cass tilts her head. "A project?"

"Yes! We will try to figure out how to understand humans and their illogical ways."

A smile pulls at the corner of her mouth. "How?"

Damian pushes himself up. "First, we shall ask Richard."

"Dick?"

"Yes." He gazes down at her, proud smirk playing on his lips. "Richard has a very high emotional IQ, and he clearly understands a lot about humans, otherwise he wouldn't be able to keep such a large network of friends and acquaintances intact. Obviously, he must have at least some idea as to how they function."

Cass turns her head to the ceiling and thinks. "We could ask Steph too."

"Hmm... yes, Brown would also be a good option. We shall ask her too."

"Don't ask Bruce."

"As much as I admire my father, I must agree."

Her laughter echoes through the study, and Damian grins. He holds out a hand to help her up, and she takes it.

As they walk out of the doorway, Damian's back is straight, but not stiff. He takes large, proud steps, a smirk on his lips, the epitome of arrogance. But his eyes are wrinkled around their corners, and a spark of fire plays in them. He is happy, and she is too.

**Author's Note:**

> ...So can I blabber about how much I love the idea of autistic!Cass a little? Because I love it a lot. Cass is a very empathic person and is brilliant at reading people because of her upbringing, so the idea of her simultaneously not 'getting' them is extremely interesting to me. It's not really a take on autism we see often; one of the major aspects of autism is trouble reading people, but when you throw Cass's comic book logic 'superpower' into the mix, I think it would be very interesting to see how that would end up. Personally, I think something among the lines of this fic would happen; a Cass who can read other people like a book, but can't follow the story behind the letters. 
> 
> I also like the idea of Damian being autistic, because a lot of the things he does are very relatable to me. While I know that a lot of his behaviour stems from trauma (like Cass), it's still pretty autism-coded. His penchant to talk in formal language, his trouble connecting to his peers, and the way he expresses emotions (i.e. often defaulting to anger because it's easier than figuring out what to do about other emotions) all remind me a lot of myself, either as I am now or as I was as a kid. So yeah that boy is autistic as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> Anyway, it's fascinating, and I'm still bitter as shit that DC's only canon autistic character is fucking Black Manta (don't get me wrong, you can rip that out of my cold, dead hands, but that doesn't mean I can't be bitter about how terrible the rep is).
> 
> (I would say I'm sorry for the ultra long author's note but really. I'm not. It's my fic and I do what I want.)


End file.
